The best meal(s) you ever had in Switzerland
 

Okay, this time I'm looking for those restaurants that for some reason - location/view, food, atmosphere, whatever - provided you with some of the most memorable meals you've ever had in Switzerland!

If you'd like, you can break it down into catagories: Best Rösti, Best Raclette, Best Fondue, Best Atmosphere, Best Folk Dancing, ... whatever categories you need!

Thanks!

I wish I could remember the names of these restaurants, but I'll post my info anyway.

The winner in the Best Rosti catagori was a little sidewalk cafe in Grindelwald. This place probably wins for best view as well, as I was looking straight up at the Eiger, the Wetterhorn, and the Jungfrau.

Best Fondue was in a little town called Morgins, near the French border. Although I don't recall the name of the place, it s/b easy to find as it's the only restaruant in Morgins. :-)

Best Raclette was had in Chatel, France, but Chatel is a town that borders Switzerland, so I'll include it.

Best Atmosphere is probably a tie between all of the fine places I visited in Switzerland. Sorry, but I find it impossible to choose. :-)

Best Folk Dancing, on boy, that's a tuffy..... :-? OK, I've got it. I went to a wine tasting in Laveaux. After 8 full glasses of Swiss wine, everyone thought my yodeling and folk dancing were pretty good, so I vote for me. Too much Swiss wine will make any folk dancer look good. :-))

Hi suspire,

For me, the best restaurant had it all: ambiance & food.

It was at the Hotel/Restaurant du Pont in the old town in Montreux, and it was lunchtime. I walked into a large room filled with workingmen wearing dusty, blue coveralls. I first sat down next to a cat on a bench, but the proprietor told me the seat was taken; apparently the cat and a regular dine together regularly!

I didn't order the day's special (horsemeat . . .) but instead ordered ravioli with shaved blonde truffle. The dish came without the truffle, and a man carrying a portable oxygen breathing tank and who had the dirtiest fingernails I had ever seen, came over and shaved the truffle until I said "enough."

Well, the ravioli and truffle were wonderful, of course, as was the general friendliness of the place.

Unfortunately, it may be out of business now as it doesn't appear on any list of restaurants in Montreux -- sad.

A good second would be the Hotel/Restaurant d'Aigle (Cafe du Paris) in Villeneuve. I had a salad with baked brie, and again my fellow diners were workmen, this time in bright orange coveralls. I just loved the thought that Swiss workmen eat so well!

s

Hey P_M - I hadn't heard you'd been to my favorite, Grindelwald! Small world, huh!

swandav - LOL!!

On my first trip to Switzerland many years ago, we were up at the top of Mt. Pilatus, just mesmerized by the gorgeous views. There on the grill were these tan-looking sausages, so light in color. I was used to the keilbasa type which are much darker.

Well, one bite and I was hooked! Made from veal, so tender and delicious. Came on a stick with a little roll at the end. Seems like it was only a couple CHF, but wow, a heck of a meal!

The best applestrudel I ever had was at the Alp Grum stop of the train, overlooking this spectaular lake, with the outdoor tables overhanging the cliff. Covered with a warm vanilla sauce, it was heaven on earth!

Oh my, I can't wait for summer!

I had several days of really great meals at Albergo Navegna in Minusio, a suburb of Locarno. They had the best carpaccio verdure. I tried to order something else but couldn't resist it. Lakeside, sunset, great wine.... what more could I want? (ok, maybe another Swiss-oholic, like Swandav, to share it with!)

Catbert - "swiss-oholic" - I like that! Wish I could change my screen name LOL!

Any great dessert places in Luzern or the Berner Oberland area?

I have had two memorable meals in Switzerland: a <i>rahmschnitzel</i> at the M&ouml;venpick Genf, and a <i>schweinskotelette</i> smothered in Gruy&egrave;re at the restaurant/cheese factory across from the eponymous rail station.

Best Sweets: The dessert buffet at the Hotel Restaurant Roseggletscher, a short hike or horse-drawn carriage ride from Pontresina.

Best Overall Food and View: the Panoramic terrace at the Grand Hotel Park in Gstaad.

Best Meal at 11,332 feet: the spaghetti and meat sauce at the Jungfraujoch cafeteria

I am not normally much of a fan of German cuisine but I was in Zurich in March and I had a very tasty veal lunch at the Zeuhauskellar, a traditional German/Swiss beer hall near the lake. This historic restaurant had William Tell's crossbow mounted on the wall, and various pieces of more mordern field artillery in other locations around the establishment. Certainly I have never had a more well-defended meal!

My gosh, you all are making me drool! These meals sound so fabulous. I may have to plan my trip around one or two of these! ;)

I had to ponder this queston for a while, because every meal in Switzerland is a good one. The best R&ouml;sti is always at a mountain hut, for lunch in the middle of a long hike. But for views and great food, my favorite place is the terrace at Hotel Bodmi in the meadows above Grindelwald:
http://www.bodmi.ch/
Great food (see the menu) and amazing views across the valley to the Wetterhorn and the glacier.

I don't have my journals in front of me, as I'm at work, so no place names.

Locarna/Muralto: Dining outside with a view of Lago Maggiore, eating a wonderful pizza and bottle of chianti classico.

Lucern: La Fenice restaurant. This name I remember!! Fabulous food, and nice quiet atmosphere.

Lucern: Swiss House restaurant. You can make a meal out of the white asparagus in the springtime. Yum!

Great thread. I recommend Axel's starters at the Hotel Panorama in Gerra-Gambarogno, Lago Maggiore (surprise, surprise), especially the vitello tunato --grossly misspelled because I'm in a hurry (cold sliver of veal with tuna sauce).

But that's not why I'm replying: enzian, your hotel Bodmi is the first time I've been tempted to return to Grindelwald. Wow. What a place to smooth ones feathers. I suppose you had a car? Alas. J.

J.---no, we were traveling by train. But we didn't actually stay there; we were at Hotel Alte Post in town and walked up there for dinner, a lovely walk through the meadows. The paths were lit for the walk back down after dark.

During dinner we watched several Gleitschirm pilots (paragliders) land; the hotel is right next to the landing area, and they reserve a special place on the terrace for the &quot;pilots&quot; to have a beer after landing. Great fun to see.

It would be quite a schlep to walk up there with bags, but many Swiss hotels will meet their arriving guests at the train and take them to the hotel. It would be worth asking if they would do this for you.

I have no names to help you find these places but a few &quot;bests&quot;...

In the fall that fabulous cabbage sausage dish served in the mom &amp; pop cafes.

I've only had raclette at outdoor street festivals, on paper plates, eaten on a park bench.

Vevey has a wonderful fondue restaurant, look for lace curtains -lol.

Filet de perch served at a lakeside restaurant, again Vevey.

5 trips to Switzerland and I have yet to see folkdancing. Those guys with the Alpen horns are pretty cool though.

I had fondue once in that cafeteria at the very top at Rochers de Naye.

I honestly cannot comment on the &quot;quality&quot; of the fondue..it tasted pretty good (but the starving will eat anything as any host/ess knows and ergo never serve food on time...) BUT
the VIEW made it one of my more memorable meals.

As a fellow &quot;swissaholic&quot; I've eaten my way across Switzerland more than a few times, and it's hard to choose the &quot;best&quot;, but here goes:

Best Pizza - a toss up between the Broken Pizzeria in Zermatt and Ristorante Mercado in Grindelwald (not sure if its still around though)

Best Rosti - Walliserkanne in Zermatt &amp; Rostizzeria in Kleine Scheidegg - outdoor dining at it's best with unbeatable views.

Best Raclette - Banklialp Hotel in Engelberg

Best apple strudel with vanilla sauce -Restaurant Zur Alten Post in Engelberg

Best barley soup - Gasthaus Engel in Engelberg - this is a hands down winner - I've NEVER had barley soup this good before or since.

Best salads and white gluhwein - Schilthorn Taverne in Murren

Best chocolate - ANYTHING Swiss

Most memorable wine drinking venue - The top of the Schilthorn where we spent our 19th wedding anniversary watching a Swiss Folk Pageant and drinking way too much wine in absolutely horrible weather. Couldn't see a thing, but went up anyway. The highlight of the day came when all the musicians bundled up in their coats, positioned themselves on the viewing terrace and started playing their Alphorns. It was a lot of fun, bad weather and all. We went up again the next day and had spectacular weather.

Melnq8, yes, the Mercado in Grindelwald is still alive and has great pizza. It's part of the Best Western Hotel. We ate there twice last week.

We took a gondola up to First which was fogged in, so we got off at Schreckfeld (the stop just before Frist) and hiked down to Bort, the over to Aellfluh for lunch. My wife had their salad special and comments that it was the best meal she had in Switzerland. I had their carrot soup and smoked Grindelwald sausage which was excellent. ((b))

Glad to hear the Mercado is still with us. Last time we were in Grindelwald it was closed and appeared to be undergoing renovation - happy to hear it was temporary.